


House of Cards

by JasnNCarly



Series: Original Works [4]
Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Interracial Relationship, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2009-12-22
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 16:48:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15247584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JasnNCarly/pseuds/JasnNCarly
Summary: It is hard to be happy when everyone tries to break you down.





	1. Chapter 1

**~*~Chapter 1~*~**  
  
“You should’ve known it wasn’t gonna be pretty.” Bringing the cigar back to his lips, leaving it unlit, he smiled confidently at his cards, “You sure you don’t wanna fold, C?”  
  
Easy back in her seat, she tightened her jaw, “Dad acted like a straight fool. I finally bring a man to meet him, and he makes me regret it. I’ve never been so embarrassed to be a part of this family, Isaiah.”   
  
“What’d you expect rollin’ that white boy in his house?”  
  
“Don’t start with me. It’s not like your girlfriend’s black either.”  
  
“Nah, but there’s a difference between me and you,” He set the cigar down along with his full house, “My girl could pass if I needed her too. Your boy on the other hand…”  
  
Isaiah’s girlfriend, Leta, was Dominican. The perfect shade for whatever she needed to be depending on the party or hood she was hanging in, gorgeous on all accounts and definitely her brother’s match. Cassandra had been happy to meet her, relieved Isaiah had found a woman who refused to accept his crap and pushed him until he backed off or manned up.  
  
Why couldn’t they accept Josh the same way she had welcomed Leta into their tight knit family?   
  
Cassandra met Isaiah’s eyes with anger brewing in the brown of her stare, “So I guess everybody was just bullshittin’ me when they said the only that matters is that I’m happy.”  
  
“He wants you happy,” He tossed a beer to his sister before popping the top on a fresh one, “just with darker meat.”  
  
“Both of you are assholes.”  
  
There it was. She wanted to believe her family wouldn’t judge him. Convinced herself to walk into the house confidently, holding her man’s hand, because times had changed. She was asking for the disaster she received, an awkward dinner where every jab that could be taken at Josh had been.  
  
Tapping her sneaker angrily on the kitchen’s tile floor, Cassandra waved off the signal for new cards.  
  
Isaiah waited for a beat; knowing how tightly bound and intertwined her feelings were with their father’s approval and continued to play a hand without any conversation at all.  
  
Once she had lost another hand, she crossed her arms and examined his features, “You think he’s right, don’t you?”  
  
Wrinkling his forehead, he shuffled the cards in confusion, “About what?”  
  
“About me dating Josh. You think it’d be better if I dated anyone else, any guy as long as he ain’t white.”  
  
“Now, come on, C, I didn’t say all that.”  
  
“But you’re acting like it.”  
  
“Acting like what? We’re playin’ cards!”  
  
“You know what,” Standing to her feet, she kicked her seat back and stormed out of the room, “you and dad can go straight to hell.”  
  
“C!” Isaiah followed her in frustration, standing in front of the door to prevent her exit, “Look, I don’t have a problem with your man, all right? But you are lyin’ if you act like you didn’t know he was going to react like that. Dad raised two kids on his own, expecting them to become a certain way, and you’re not. He’s gonna feel how he’s gonna feel. You have to deal with that, not him. ‘Cause it ain’t gonna change.”  
  
As much as she hated hearing the words, she knew he was speaking the truth.  
  
~*~  
  
“Come on, Josh, you decided to take this walk – you gotta follow through now.”  
  
Setting dumbbells down, he shot his friend a dangerous glare, “Don’t start that shit again. I don’t need to hear anyone’s mouth about this right now.”  
  
“This started months ago. The looks, the whispers, and you expected the dad to react differently?”  
  
Josh wiped his face and neck down, frustrated that the gym was doing little to settle his nerves, “Why is it anybody’s business what goes on between me and Cassandra?”  
  
He had heard all the arguments against his relationship and, frankly, he was tired of it. He met a beautiful woman on campus and decided to take it further. All he saw was almond shaped brown eyes, full cinnamon lips, and a contagious laugh. He had always loved the mahogany of her skin, but she had not registered as a “black” woman to him until everyone decided to throw their two cents at them.  
  
“Could have something to do with the fact that you both just had to meet each other’s parents.”  
  
“My mother was a saint compared to her father. He did everything short of stabbing with his dinner fork to get me to leave that house without her, Bobby.”  
  
“Not fair, your mother’s a hippie.”  
  
Josh shot another warning with his crystal blues before going on, “I don’t think her brother liked me either. Granted, he didn’t make as many coded comments as his father, but he didn’t look very happy to see me at the dinner table.”  
  
“Well, who gives a fuck? You two met each other’s fam. Now that it’s over, just move on with your plans. All that matters is your plans with Cassandra. She left with you so obviously she’s not caring what her Pops thinks.”  
  
“Maybe.”   
  
“Well, it’s either that or…” Bobby surveyed a cute blond, clearly signaling her availability as she passed by, and wiggled his brows at Josh, “you explore other options.”  
  
Letting out a wide smile, he tossed the towel over his shoulder and patted his buddy’s shoulder, “Not my type.”  
  
Once Josh had begun to walk away, Bobby took one last look back before following and mumbling to himself, “Obviously.”  
  
~*~  
  
When they had finally met up at their spot, neither of them knew what to say. Fortunately for her, he knew what to order and the cheese steaks were a welcome distraction from the awkward conversation they were supposed to have.  
  
They were out of sync. When he would look up to find her eyes, she was staring down as was the same vice versa. They’d look out at the busy city beside them, just outside the large window, and listen mindlessly to the conversations around them. Everything settled them, reminded them that even if it was for just second – no one cared about them or their situation.  
  
When she had found the courage to look up, he was wiping his fingers with a flimsy wet nap and smiling playfully back at her, “These things are messy, Cassie. Why you make me eat here?”  
  
Cassandra grinned, relieved to hear his lighter tone, and sipped on her soda, shrugging her shoulders, “No idea, J. No idea.”  
  
Josh waited for a moment, noting her movement and checking it against his memory – gauging her mood. Once he had, he tossed the napkin and let out a heavy sigh, “Don’t worry about what happened, all right? It’s not that big of a deal.”  
  
She gave him her trademark ‘yeah right’ look.  
  
“It don’t matter to me. What you do with it is your business. “  
  
“How can you say it don’t bother you? We want to a life together.”  
  
“That’s right. But my life’s with you. Not with your brother or your father. They make their own decisions, and they can’t affect us unless you let them.” Josh waited for a moment, disappointed that she hung her head in shame, and leaned forward, “I love you, Cassie. Until you tell me to go, I’m here. Right here, with you, and I don’t care what anybody’s got to say about it. Hear me?”  
  
“Yeah,” She offered him a sad smile, raising a hand to his face and caressing his cheek with her thumb, “I love you, too, babe.”  
  
Taking her hand from his cheek, his kissed her palm and promised, “We’re gonna be happy. This isn’t gonna stop us.”  
  
Cassandra nodded slowly and followed him throughout the day, wondering how she could not be as certain as he was about their future.


	2. Chapter 2

**~*~Chapter 2~*~**  
  
 _“If he make you feel like a million dollar bill, say oh…”_  
  
Cassandra erupted in laughter, moving in perfect sync with the beat, as Leta continued to dance with her, singing at the top of her lungs; the party was as large as Isaiah’s small home could allow, many of the party goers crowding the back yard as the noise disrupted no one’s Saturday night on the block.  
  
Isaiah knew and invited most of the neighborhood to the party that offered a cookout, loud music and plenty of dancing, as well as a little gambling; after the past few weeks of being pissed off, the party was a welcome release.  
  
“So is your little hottie showing up tonight?” Leta wiggled her eyebrows, ignoring the whistles from a couple men as she grabbed Cassandra’s hand and began to move with her, “Your…vanilla latte?”  
  
“You really gonna hassle me too?” Cassandra tried not to smile as Leta made faces, exaggerating her moves to keep the attention off anything negative, “Josh had to close up the shop tonight, then he’ll be here.”  
  
“Shop, huh? How many jobs that boy got now?”  
  
“I lost count.”  
  
“You sure he ain’t Dominican?” Leta began to spin them, stopping only when Isaiah began to call out for her; smoothing her black short shorts, she let out a heavy sigh, “Excuse me, my man’s calling.”  
  
Cassandra rolled her eyes, still mindful of the beat as she was left alone among the small crowd.  
  
“Now, those are the hips I remember.”  
  
The voice was familiar, even if it was a little deeper than it appeared in the past. Her eyes went wide as she spun around to find his small smile awaiting her, his hands in his jean pockets, “Ty?”  
  
“What’s up, C?”  
  
“Oh my God!” She threw her arms around her childhood friend, squeezing him tight, “I can’t believe it’s you! How long has it been?”  
  
“Least eight years. UCLA and a fine business mind with do that to you.” Tyree pulled away, giving her his million dollar smile – the one that curved towards his cheekbones and wrinkled the corner of his eyes, “Isaiah decided to surprise you with my homecoming.”  
  
“Is that right?” Cassandra slid her hands into her back jean pockets, the urge to strangle her brother evident in her features as she glanced his way.  
  
Isaiah caught none of it, with his unlit cigar in his mouth and Leta seated on his lap, and continued to argue with his fellow poker players about the proposed bet.  
  
“Did Isaiah mention I would have company at this party?”  
  
Tyree popped the collar of his black short sleeve shirt, his caramel gaze surveying the party with delight, “That’s what I’m talking about. You introducing me to your girlfriends tonight?”  
  
Cassandra looked her brother’s way again to see Josh securing the chain fence again, stepping into the backyard and approaching Isaiah.   
  
Setting a twelve pack of beer by the cooler, he gave Isaiah a quick greeting by shaking his hand and gesturing around the rest of the party. The sight of him in blue jean and a green t-shirt stole her heart with its simplicity and amplified the sound of its beat with the way his sculpted body gave it the details it may have lacked otherwise.  
  
“Actually, my company…” She trailed off pointing towards her boyfriend who stuck out like a sore thumb among the party guests, while the party had every flavor otherwise known to man – it was lacking the vanilla Leta teased earlier on.  
  
“Hey babe.” Josh gave her a hug, accepting her slightly aggressive kiss and pulling away slightly embarrassed, “You gonna introduce me to your friend?”  
  
“Tyree, this is my man, Josh. Josh, this is an old friend, Tyree.”  
  
Josh wrinkled his brow at her introduction, shaking the man’s hand, “Nice to meet you.”  
  
“You too,” Tyree wiped his hand on his jeans, “You just get off work or something, man?”  
  
Josh looked at his hands again, giving a low growl, “Yeah, man, I tried scrubbing with that lava shit, but car grease is a bitch.”  
  
“Right.” Tyree looked back to Cassandra, his lips giving a polite grin, “It’s good to see you. Maybe we could catch up later this week.”  
  
“Maybe.” She dismissed him with a small nod, waiting for him to walk away before facing her suspicious boyfriend, “Isaiah’s idea.”  
  
“Ah.” Josh nodded, his whole demeanor changing at the announcement, “I guess that’s why I was invited tonight, huh?”  
  
“That’d be my guess.”  
  
“Too much to hope at least all right with this, right?”  
  
“Hey.” Cassandra placed her hands on his shoulders, bringing her body flush against his, “We don’t care what they think, remember?”  
  
“I remember but being here is a big reminder what others might think.” Josh began to move with her to the next slow jam, his hands settled on her hips, “I think we should…return to our conversation about the new place.”  
  
Cassandra moved closer to him, her breath brushing against his lips, “You don’t want to live with me now?”  
  
A smile appeared on his full lips despite his better judgment, “You know your father’s gonna flip, and it’s lookin’ like your brother won’t be that far behind him. You ready for that?”  
  
“I am ready for anything as long as it means I go to sleep beside you and wake up in your arms.”


	3. Chapter 3

**~*~Chapter 3~*~**  
  
Waking up beside Josh was better than anything else she could have imagined; he barely moved a muscle, leaving her to stare at the rise and fall of his broad physique. His breath reminded her that he was really there, specially made for her.   
  
Cassandra rolled over, biting her lower lip as she ran a hand over his lower lip. When she received no reaction, she moved her fingers to tug on his earlobe.  
  
When his hand swatted her touch away, her eruptive laughter caused him to peek his blue eyes out and close them again – though his lips were now stained with a smile.  
  
“Don’t you want to sleep in after moving day?”  
  
His grumble did little to deter her as she climbed on top of him pin his arms down to his pillows, “Nope. We still have to unpack all those boxes in the kitchen and living room. Tomorrow we both go back to real life so this is our only opportunity.”  
  
Josh’s gaze peeked out once more to scan her tank top and shorts, “Silly me, I thought we were just going to take advantage of our new place and all the privacy we got now.”  
  
“Not today, buddy. Today, we act like grown-ups.” Cassandra hopped off of him before he could become too aware, convince her to be distracted.  
  
~*~  
  
“That is hideous.” Cassandra had no shame in denying Josh’s display of a grotesque poster, “You better put it in a closet for now. You’re not giving me nightmares.”  
  
“Come on, you can’t give me one corner of the living room?”  
  
“Um, your Xbox system and games are already threatening to get in the way of my amazing design.” Cassandra watched as he glanced at his stuff and shrugged his shoulders, taking his picture to the hallway closet and reluctantly planting it in a corner of the small space, “I think this is going to work just fine, J. We got a system that works.”  
  
“What? You giving me orders and me refusing to argue.” Josh came back to the living room, just as his cell phone let out the ‘ping’ for a message. Pulling the phone out of his back pocket, her chuckled at whatever was on the screen.  
  
Cassandra couldn’t help herself, crossing her arms, “Who’s that?”  
  
Josh gave her the  _‘are you serious’_  glare before taking a seat on the couch, showing her his cell, “It’s my mom. She wants to come bless the apartment.”  
  
Relief immediately settled her as she saw the text message, “We have to be unpacked before she comes to do that.”  
  
“I want to know why you’re trippin’ about my phone when not two days ago your little admirer popped back into the picture.”  
  
“What are you rambling about?”  
  
“Mr. T.”  
  
“You mean Ty?”  
  
“Ty.” Josh mocked her with a high pitch repetition, doing nothing to mask his irritation.   
  
“There is nothing going on; there was nothing going on; there is nothing to trip about, at all.”  
  
~*~  
  
 _“I know you’ve moved. I know I blew it in your eyes. But I love you Cassie Bear. Just…call me back, please? Let your father know you’re doing okay.”_  
  
Cassandra couldn’t bring herself to delete the message, but she hung her voicemail. Sulking at a coffee shop, she tapped her finger on her cup of tea and checked her watch.  
  
“You expecting someone?” His voice caused her to nearly spill her cup, his hands immediately covering hers, “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”  
  
“Ty, you can’t just sneak up on me anymore.” Cassandra straightened her cup, doing a quick check to make sure not too many people saw her embarrass herself, “What are you doing here anyway?”  
  
“I thought I might run into an old friend.” Tyree’s smile was shameless as he took a seat opposite her, “Isaiah told me I might be able to catch you between the classes you teach.”  
  
“Classes were kind of small today; after yesterday’s packing, I was thinking about cancelling this afternoon’s sessions.”   
  
“Must be why everything is looking…right on you.” When she crossed her arms in response, he looked elsewhere and sighed, “So you moved yesterday?”  
  
“Yep, J and I got our own place.”  
  
“J? The white boy you brought to the party?” He immediately lifting his hands in surrender, “My bad, I’m sorry I had no clue you were that serious. Even when you did introduce him as yo’ man.”  
  
“I love Joshua. He’s the best thing that’s happened to me in a really long time.” Cassandra stood to her feet, grabbing her coffee cup and messenger bag, “Enjoy your day, Ty-ty.”  
  
Tyree began to follow her, “Oh, come on, it’s like that? You can’t just talk to me?”   
  
“We got nothing to talk about. You should be caught up by now.” Cassandra pushed the button for the stoplight and tried to mentally count to ten, “Tyree, I should also make it really clear that my boyfriend is a really big guy and very jealous. The further away from me, the prettier your smile will stay.”  
  
“Ah, so I see you’re still feeling something about me.” Tyree stepped in front of her as she waited for the light to change, “Does he know about me and you?”  
  
“There’s nothing to know.”  
  
“Really? What about my going away party before the UCLA party?” Tyree’s stare became eerily and uncomfortably familiar to her, full of lust and flirtation, “Some things are hard to forget.”  
  
“And for others? They’re easily forgettable.” Cassandra began to cross the street when the traffic died down, not patient enough to wait.  
  
“You’ll remember, Cassie! We had something special!”  
  
Cassandra moved as quickly as possible, trying to ignore her attraction to Tyree and the lie she had told her boyfriend.


End file.
